Amy Grisak » The Latest

Beautiful Bozeman and preparing for winter

Amy Grisak — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:42:49 +0000

Even though I’ve been freelance writing for over a decade, I still become giddy when my articles come out in the newspaper or magazines. Imagine my delight when I received my Dec/Jan issue of Organic Gardening magazine, which included my article on the very Montanan town of Bozeman. We had a great time visiting Bozeman this summer (despite the delays due to rain and cold), and it’s a delight to see the finished piece. Lately I’m working on articles about the wild winter weather we have in store for us; putting up food to hunker down in style during the cold; pruning fruit trees and working on creating your family tree. Plus, I still have to record several podcasts for the Planters Place group. I’m very happy even though the gardening season is short, writing about it isn’t!

Digging deep for an article

Amy Grisak — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:17:57 +0000

I spent a couple of weeks in Ohio this fall to spend time with my family, and to do a considerable amount of research in my family’s history for an article I’m writing. One reason I love my vocation is it’s a very hands-on profession. Last year when I wrote a piece on a solar powered chicken coop, I bought a small solar kit so I could set it up to better understand how it worked. With this article, I’m diving in head first so I can give my readers the best understanding on how to begin genealogical research, as well as how to work around the inevitable roadblocks that emerge. As with so many of the topics I’m passionate about, the hardest part of this one is going to be keeping it within the allotted word count.

Thinking of spring

Amy Grisak — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:16:21 +0000

One of the challenges of being a garden writer is having to write ahead of the season. Writing summer stories when everything is white with the cozy-factor of a walk-in freezer is therapy for me, but it’s tough when I’m wrapping up the garden to think about planting in the spring. In reality, though, this is the best time to make a plan. It’s too hard to remember what to do, or not to do, when the excitement of finally seeing green blurs your senses. Fall is the time to be rational. It’s when to decide what perennials need to be moved, what areas need more compost and where plants should be placed next year. So, I’ll keep cleaning and making notes for spring. I’m also working on a little lasagna gardening with heaps of spent vegetables layered with compost; making new perennial beds along the hideous chain link fence (one of these days you won’t be able to see it); pulling a 25×25 ft sheet of plastic over a garden heavily infested with bindweed to see if we can’t make a dent in it. Even though we may slow down a bit during the winter, there’s really never a dull moment in the gardening world because we’re always working towards the next season.

Shifting gears with the season

Amy Grisak — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:54:26 +0000

I’ve come to realize there really is no slow season anymore. I know a lot of people look forward to autumn because garden chores and life in general starts to moderate. Not here. I don’t know how I’m going to freeze and can everything that’s ripening. I’m even freezing berries to turn into jams and jellies later since there’s no way I have the time to handle it now. The tomatoes are poised on the verge of burying us in ripe fruit; beans are finally slowing down a tad; we’re praying the corn matures, but that answered prayer will mean at least an afternoon of blanching and cutting to put it in the freezer. Even though it’s a hectic time of year, it’s worth it when I’m pulling out veggies in the middle of winter and can pass by much of the offerings in the produce section at the local grocery.

Writing is keeping me just as busy. I’m working on stories about season extension techniques, beginning beekeeping, the art of phenology (using nature’s cues to aid in gardening practices), putting up food, and an article about Tizer Gardens, which is an incredible place south of here who had gardens wiped out with flooding this spring, but it hasn’t slowed down their extraordinary efforts. On the horizon I’m looking at articles on fermenting dairy foods, which is something I’m looking forward to delving into since we’re already big fans of homemade yogurt, but I want to do more with kefir and such. Before I know it, it’ll be time to head back to Ohio and work on a brand new batch of ideas for the new year!

Amy Grisak — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 05:22:36 +0000

No matter how long I’ve been writing, I’m always delighted when I hit that “send” button. I just finished my final story for College 101 on how to choose a major. It was an eye opener. With the economy the way it’s going, I think less students can afford the time to find themselves in the early college years. Plus, since many college graduates will have 5 separate careers (not jobs) within their lives, choosing a flexible degree is a wise option. Bottom line – pottery and interpretive dance aren’t going to get you out of your parents’ house. Now that the college publication is off my plate I’m starting on several gardening pieces (we’re thinking spring, which is good) and an article on soups and stews. Since the weather is out of the 90s I’m cooking most of it this week. It’ll be good to have a whole lot in the freezer when I’m done.

Today I was on KRTV talking about the success of the community gardens despite a very rough start to the year. Erin did a nice job asking the questions and putting together the story, and it was just nice to talk about a positive aspect of the gardening year. Speaking of the community gardens, I’m working on our new website for River City Harvest. I have a lot of content to add, but at least this should give visitors a reasonable amount of information to answer questions.

In my own gardens, the tomato plants are reaching epic proportions towering at least 6 ft tall. It’s good to be able to pick tomatoes for dinner or for recipes. Actually, it’s good to head out to the garden every night to pick dinner. Every day is different and delicious.

Where are the dog days of summer?

Amy Grisak — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:26:16 +0000

This is supposed to be the time of year when we kick back and enjoy the bounty of the season. Yeah, right. Beans wait for no one. They’re coming on strong, as well as broccoli, cabbage and greens galore. The tomatoes tower above my head, and the grafted Brandywine/Maxifort is a gigantic success. We started picking ripe Brandywines two weeks ago, which is unheard of in this country. We’re lucky if we have red ones by the end of the season, let alone at the beginning of August.

Articles are as abundant as the produce. We made the trip to the Flathead Valley where we visited Bibler Gardens, which looks more stunning now than I’ve ever seen it, as well as the bountiful cherry orchards. The wet spring has been good to the plants. Although fall is fast approaching – evident by the chilly nights and decreasing daylength – I’m writing about growing small fruits in Montana, planning the garden with nature’s signals and extending the gardening season in the spring. And soon I need to head back into the kitchen in order to create recipes for winter meals.

Weeding, watering and snakes

Amy Grisak — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 14:46:15 +0000

Now that the summer planting is finally done, and the late season round hasn’t started in anticipation of fall harvests, it’s time to weed, water and enjoy the gardens. I’m one of those crazies who actually likes weeding, particularly when it’s in my home garden and everything pulls up nicely. On the other hand, using the hoe in the hard-packed ground at one of the community gardens is less than appealing; I regret leaving so much space between rows. The only reason I did was because the homeowner, who also gardens with me, is stuck in his traditional mindset and thought he would be helpful by rototilling. I compromised by double row planting, but left enough space in the aisles for the machine. But since he hasn’t tilled, I’m hoeing. Watering is also more challenging at that garden. Normally, we put the pump in the Sun River and take turns starting the irrigation every couple of days. The water is still too high so we have to wait for awhile. This means running over more often to turn on the sprinkler so I weed while I water.

This week I was interviewed by our local television station KRTV about the challenges in the community garden. The reporter did a nice job – you’d never guess this was his first week of work! It’s always interesting conducting an interview or making one of the gardening videos with the boys around. Yesterday I gave John a yogurt to keep him occupied, but Sam insisted on being close to me. Unfortunately, this meant running underneath the tripod legs as he was filming! Oh my.

As for my recent articles, I’m wrapping up one on a crazy man who catches rattlesnakes for fun. I still have to go over to his place to take photos. I just hope the nasty ones are secure behind glass! I’m also working on one about garden pests. I’ve received several calls this year from fellow gardeners, so it’s been a good learning experience for me to discover what’s eating their plants even if I’ve never experienced it before on my own veggies.

And hopefully soon I’m going to head over to the Flathead Valley for a short scouting a few gardens I think will make good subjects for articles. It’s always hard to break

The start of summer?

Amy Grisak — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:03:40 +0000

The official first day of summer is just days away, but truthfully, it doesn’t feel as if spring has really begun. Most of the planting is finally finished, although it sounds like there might be a couple of open plots at the University of Great Falls community garden. We’ll see if the gardeners come through. It’s been a challenging spring starting the gardens this season between the weather and the growth of the organzation. River City Harvest went from one 8000 sq ft garden 3 seasons ago to managing well over 50 gardeners. There are bound to be a few bumps along the way. On the work front, I finished all of my videos for Plantersplace.com. I’m very excited that they recently asked me to record podcasts for them where I read my “Pest Patrol” blog posts. It’ll be a lot of fun, plus it’s always good to learn a new facet of the ever changing technology. I’m heading to Bozeman shortly to work on another article

Knee deep in the gardening program

Amy Grisak — Tue, 17 May 2011 05:36:13 +0000

It’s the middle of May and I don’t have my entire garden – sans corn – planted. The world very well might be coming to an end on May 21. Ha! Slowly, but surely, I’m putting plants in the garden, and covering them immediately to prevent damage from the likely frost or freeze. I put in a half-dozen of my 20 tomato plants in Wall-O-Waters, as well as basil, peppers and celery… all under cover or in cold frames, of course. We had our opening day for the River City Harvest community gardens on Saturday, and it was a smashing success. It was windier than all get out, but the gardeners are happy and ready to go. It’s worth all of the hard work the RCH board and I have done over the past several months. On the writing front, I’m looking forward to a trip to Bozeman for a story. It’s an incredible town with a whole lot of unique things happening so it’ll be a fun assignment. I’m also working on a story about the kids’ gardening project about the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind. The kids are growing in their greenhouse for the first time in about 7 years, so it’s good to see the enthusiasm. Next will be a story on early season perennials, including the history of the new Itoh peonies. This is a miracle plant… and I can’t wait to buy one! And on a totally different front for this time of year, I need to develop six cake recipes for the premiere issue of a new cooking magazine. It looks like our neighbors are going to find baked goods on their front porches pretty soon!

Doing the happy dance

Amy Grisak — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 04:37:59 +0000

It’s been three weeks of a full out run when it comes to assignments, but I’m doing the happy dance because I’m caught up for the moment. Last Friday, I had 7 articles due byThursday. Honestly, I didn’t know how I was going to manage them in time since several were somewhat complicated. (Gardening I can do in my sleep, health related topics require more detailed research.) But thankfully, the interviews fell into place, and I had wonderful conversations with several brilliant people. It was a fascinating ride. I wrote about: rodeos, dinosaur museums, our crazy weather and how gardeners can prepare, eating real food versus the common industrialized fare, aspartame, living with multiple allergies and how to build healthy soil to discourage pests. Whew. It’s good to be finished with those so I can enjoy the Easter holiday without stressing, and place my full attention on the mongo-Easter egg hunt on Sunday. (Friends are hiding 600 candy filled eggs for the kids.) But next week I’ll be back at it, although with a slightly more sane schedule. Then again, I do have to build elevated beds at one of the community gardens and figure out how to best run the waterline to them; calculate materials and obtain lumber for several other community garden projects; pull together the information to give to the City of Great Falls to make the community gardens kosher; spray trees for mountain pinebark beetles; plant my latest apple tree (and hopefully video it for the Osmocote company); build another square foot bed or two or three; plant the 50 strawberry plants chilling out in the vegetable drawer in flats in the greenhouse because it’s still too cold to plant them outside; find a bike for our oldest son; continue on our Italian language studies now that I replaced the headset the boys used for tug-o-war. There’s never a dull moment in this household.